"Empire of the Stars," Bella says. "I'm colonizing not-Earth locations and sprucing them up nice and inviting people to move in, rather than attempting direct takeover. What does gold have to do with vampires?"

"Vampires who eat people," says Elspeth, "have red eyes. Vampires who eat animals, or the lovely advanced synthetics they have here that we haven't invented yet, have gold eyes."

"I can see building a theme around that, assuming vampires eating humans was a major problem," Bella says. "You have brown eyes. They look like mine."

"I'm a half-vampire," Elspeth says. "Female vampires can't have biological children, but Mama had plenty of warning and she's smart, so she got some eggs taken out before she turned, and got a friend to carry me for her."

"Has there been any progress on analyzing the stuff you brought back last time?" inquires Libby.

"R&D's working on it," Elspeth says. "So far they know... it's carbonated." She shrugs. "I really doubt that's an essential feature, that's just what the bar gave me." She explains to Bella, "Blood substitutes. Major research interest for us."

"I'd imagine. I don't have that problem," says Bella. "Are drinks just free here? If not, can I pay for them in imperial asters?"

"They're not, and I would love to know the answer to that question," says Libby.

Bella looks around and fails to see a bartender. "How... does this work?"

"The Bar is magic," says Libby, pointing. "And sentient, and female. You ask her for things and she gives them to you, within fairly reasonable constraints. There is a magical tab board that may or may not be visible at any given moment, which records how much you owe. I've never actually seen somebody get collected on, but I like to pay it off once in a while anyway."

"Can she," Bella says, "answer questions, such as 'can I pay in imperial asters'?"

"Yes she can!"

"She gives out napkins," Elspeth says. "Sometimes they have writing on them. The writing is what she has to say. Just go up to the bar and ask."

"Well, that's convenient," says Libby.

"Quite," Bella agrees.

"The Golden Empire doesn't have its own currency," says Elspeth. "We just work in the currencies that already exist on Earth. It contributes that we moved into a power vacuum after removing the previous vampire rulers."

"That's adorable!" exclaims Elspeth. "Oh my word. What kind of magic do you have that you can do that? It's an anti-counterfeiting measure? Do they just all do that?"

"Wish magic," Bella says. "Very comprehensive stuff. They do all do that - but different denominations make different birds. The coins just glow in assorted colors."

Elspeth claps her hands. "That's really sweet." She pauses. "It's more... whimsical, than my mama."

"I wonder why that is," muses Libby. Although she has some guesses.

"How old are you?" Elspeth asks Bella.

"Eighteen. As of not terribly long ago," Bella says.